MartialArts/CraneStyle4
Crane Style
By Mapache
Background
Crane style martial arts focuses on rapidly incapacitating opponents instead of slowly killing them, and on defending oneself by blocking all incoming blows. Its signature weapons are staves, and staves of any sort may be freely used with any of these charms, including the following specialized martial arts staves:
Speed Accuracy Damage Defense Resources Minimums Jo +3 +1 +2L +1 • S•, D••, MA•• Bo +3 +0 +2L +2 • S••, D••, MA••
A jo is a hardwood staff roughly one meter in length, and a bo is well-balanced stout staff roughly two meters in length.
Charms
Fluttering Wing Technique
- Cost: 3 motes
- Duration: Instant
- Type: Reflexive
- Min. Martial Arts: 3
- Min. Essence: 1
- Prereqs: None
With a quick snap of the arm, the Exalt deflects an opponent's blow. This charm allows the Exalt to add her Martial Arts rating to a single parry attempt (or to parry an attack with her Martial Arts rating without using an action), and allows her to parry a blow that would do lethal damage even if she is unarmed.
Unexpected Pecking Strike
- Cost: 3 motes
- Duration: Instant
- Type: Reflexive
- Min. Martial Arts: 3
- Min. Essence: 1
- Prereqs: Fluttering Wing Technique
By lashing out suddenly, the Exalt catches her opponent unprepared. This charm allows the Exalt to add her Martial Arts rating to her initiative score for the round. If armed with a staff, this charm can be invoked twice per round; otherwise, it may only be used once per round.
Crane Form
- Cost: 5 motes
- Duration: One Scene
- Type: Simple
- Min. Martial Arts: 4
- Min. Essence: 2
- Prereqs: Unexpected Pecking Strike
By imitating the long legs and neck of a crane and striking with the speed of a flapping wing, the Exalt can rapidly incapacitate opponents while protecting herself. For the remainder of the scene, she adds her Martial Arts score to any attempt to parry a blow, though parries still require dice actions. In addition, she may abort to a cascading parry to defend herself. Lastly, by focussing her efforts against her opponents pressure points, she may stun opponents easily. When declaring any of her attacks, she may choose to double the amount of pre-soak damage dice they will inflict, including extra successes, but all this damage is bashing, and the opponent's bashing soak will apply. Due to the need to remain mobile, this charm is incompatible with the use of armor.
Force-Focussing Kata
- Cost: 5 motes
- Duration: Instant
- Type: Supplemental
- Min. Martial Arts: 5
- Min. Essence: 2
- Prereqs: Crane Form
By striking directly at an opponent's pressure points, the Exalt maximizes the amount of injury an attack can cause. When she uses charm, she makes a normal attack, but the damage can only be soaked with armor, not stamina.
Breastplate-Shattering Strike
- Cost: 5 motes, 1 willpower
- Duration: Instant
- Type: Supplemental
- Min. Martial Arts: 5
- Min. Essence: 2
- Prereqs: Force-Focussing Kata
By smashing a foe's armor, the Exalt can leave him undefended. When invoking this charm, the Exalt makes an attack as normal. If it hits, in addition to doing normal damage, the Exalt makes a Strength+Martial Arts roll vs the bashing soak of her opponent's armor (rolled as a die pool). Each net success on behalf of the Exalt damages the armor, resulting in its bashing and lethal soak both being lowered by one per success. The armor can be repaired after combat by a craftsman with proper tools.
Backward-Kicking Talon
- Cost: 4 motes
- Duration: Instant
- Type: Reflexive
- Min. Martial Arts: 5
- Min. Essence: 2
- Prereqs: Crane Form
The Exalt strikes back at an attacker with this charm. When the victim of a successful attack, the Exalt can use this charm to make an immediate counterattack with a die pool equal to the Exalt's Martial Arts plus the attacker's successes. This charm may not be used against any sort of counterattack.
Thrashing Crane Typhoon
- Cost: 4 motes, 1 willpower
- Duration: Instant
- Type: Extra Action
- Min. Martial Arts: 5
- Min. Essence: 3
- Prereqs: Backward-Kicking Talon
The Exalt summons the fury of a hurricane, lashing out at all foes within reach. When she invokes this charm, she immediately makes an attack at her full Martial Arts+Dexterity pool against each of her opponents that are within her Essence in yards. Roll the attack separately against each opponent.
Uncanny Balance Meditation
- Cost: 3 motes
- Duration: One Turn
- Type: Reflexive
- Min. Martial Arts: 4
- Min. Essence: 3
- Prereqs: Crane Form
By controlling her center of gravity and carefully balancing her movements, the Exalt becomes supernaturally graceful and agile. For all actions she takes this turn, she may add her Martial Arts score to her Athletics Score. Additionally, when resisting any attempts to knock her down or push her back, she has a number of automatic successes equal to her permanent Essence.
Bounding Flight Technique
- Cost: 5 motes
- Duration: One Scene
- Type: Simple
- Min. Martial Arts: 5
- Min. Essence: 3
- Prereqs: Uncanny Balance Meditation
By emulating the graceful flight of a crane, the Exalt can move with amazing speed and take up positions that seem impossible. For the remainder of the scene, she doubles her movement rate and leaping distance, and she may set foot on any surface, no matter how insubstantial, such as tree branches, tightropes, water, and even her foe's heads. However, if she is on a surface that would not normally support her, she she cannot remain stationary, but must remain moving until she reaches a stable vantage point.
Beak Pairs with Claw
- Cost: 7 motes, 1 willpower
- Duration: One Scene
- Type: Extra Action
- Min. Martial Arts: 5
- Min. Essence: 4
- Prereqs: Breastplate-Shattering Strike, Thrashing Crane Typhoon, Bounding Flight Technique
The ultimate technique of Crane Style, this charm requires being armed with either a Bo staff or with dual Jo staves, one in each hand. It allows the Exalt to act independently with either the two ends of the long staff or with each of the two short staves. For the remainder of the scene, she receives two full dice actions each turn instead of one. Each of the these actions may be split independently, though only for purposes of making attacks and parries; these actions can also be split by means of other Extra Action-type charms, even if the other charm normally prohibits this. She may use one of these actions for a cascading parry, if she also has Crane Form active (or if she has some other means of performing a cascading parry), and keep the other for an attack. Even if she does not dedicate any actions to parrying a given attack, she may still reflexively parry any attacks with a die pool equal to her Martial Arts score. The use of this charm is incompatible with the wearing of armor.
For example, and Exalt who has both this charm and Crane Form active may choose to use one action for a cascading parry starting at (2*Martial Arts)+Dex (due to the effect of Crane Form) and split the other for multiple attacks, or even activate Thrashing Crane Typhoon and still have the cascading parry for defense.
Comments
This martial arts seems to be primarily a collection of other martial arts or melee charms all thrown together under one name. Far from creative and generally unbalanced. The final charm is simply out of hand. It is far from in line with anything else presented in the game. -Requies
